Rules of the Family
by WrittenInBlack
Summary: (Mafia AU) Karma is head of a small organized crime group that calls themselves 'The Family'. Despite the wealth, connections and 'merchandise' that he comes across he only treasures one thing, Nagisa. How far would he have to go to protect him? KarmaxNagisa. This story has drug references, violence, language and mafia themes.
1. Meet the Family

This story is thanks to an awesome Mafia AU idea that a friend posted a little while ago. After sending a message they were very happy to let me use the AU as well. I've actually always carried a bit of a fascination with organized crime so I was excited.

Note: I'll be using traditional mafia titles to describe the roles within the group. All student characters will be assumed an older age because of the nature of the story. While I won't specify but I do treat them as ages 20-22.

 **Mafia Boss** \- (Karma) The leader of course who has final say in the most important of matters. Most of the time, all the money gathered from crimes comes back to him. He is also in charge of assigning who fills the other roles.

 **Consiglier** \- (Nagisa) This is typically known as the Right Hand to the boss. They have a particularly special connection in that they have the right to challenge or even argue apart from offering advice. Although it's not usually ever a bodyguard I do like the idea and I'll use it.

 **Underboss** \- (Itona) The underboss usually will take care of things such as conflicts between group members, managing the "Capos" and other matters. He is the second-in-command.

 **Capodecina "Capos"** \- (Nakamura, Sugino, Kanzaki, Isogai) These people are sort of the 'managers' in their field. Mobsters tend to have several fields of interest. One Capo will be in charge of illegal gambling while another oversees money laundering. Sometimes they're split geographically. (One has a part of the city another takes another part etc)

 **Soldiers and Associate** s- Soldiers actually work for the group. They answer to the Capos and do a lot of the dirty work like distributing or dealing the drugs, racketeering and the violent matters. Associates do not work for the group. They'll often just be contacted as their help is needed in specific ways. If they need money laundering advice, they'll ask an outside accountant they trust not to tell. Otherwise, they have no connections. Other students will fill these roles as they come up.

* * *

The rain wasn't kind to the lower slums of the city, especially at night. It left puddles in the broken sidewalks and in the numerous potholes that riddled the streets. It weighed down on the canopies that hung over the small shops doors and once all the stray animals were drenched, the air itself smelled like wet dog. Everything was damaged, cramped and pitiful.

Karasuma wasn't accustomed to being called down to such a place. Typical meetings with this sort of group took place in hotel restaurants or exclusive island resorts. However, if the money took him to a shady back alley ramen restaurant, so be it.

As he approached the address he found the shop closed. In front, a young woman with light brown hair in a high ponytail, dressed in a black pantsuit blocked the entrance. The closer he got, the harder she stared. Somehow, she recognized him, and tilted her head, signaling that he enter from the side door.

He walked past her and down the side of the shop where he found yet another soldier waiting. He was dressed more casually, with a pair of jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. It was unsettling to see a young man with long bangs that covered his eyes. Being unable to read someone made Karasuma very cautious. The guard didn't speak a word, but rather shoved him against the wall rather harshly and began patting him down.

"Take it easy," Karasuma warned.

The soldier ran his hands up and down the mans torso, checking his pant line for weapons or devices. As he patted down the breast pocket he pulled out a pen.

"It's just a pen," he explained.

Ignoring the response, he broke it, tossing it down the alley.

When he was satisfied, he opened the door and allowed Karasuma inside.

The older gentleman pulled at his coat, straightening it as he walked down a narrow hall to another door, unguarded. As he opened it slowly, the sound of laughter spilled out and echoed around him.

The room was rather large for a small restaurant. The lights were bright and the yellow walls made the space seem almost cheerful. Inside was a long table turned horizontal, littered with bowls of noodles, sauces, garnishes and meats for the ramen.

While there was a lonely seat for him on one side, other sat four individuals on a long cushioned bench that ran the length of the table. All but one had stopped what they were doing when he came in. On the far side, a young blonde woman, fairly beautiful were it not for her scathing glare, very smartly dressed in a white blouse with black coat and skirt. On the other was a man with a short, spiked type hairstyle. It was a very pale blue. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt and comfortable pants. For some reason, he seemed rather indifferent.

In the center were two more gentleman who seemed to be entangled with one another. One had a unique ponytail style blue hair and azure eyes which made him unforgettable immediately. He wore a white shirt with the long sleeves rolled up and a black vest with a blue tie. There was something different in the way he stared. It was much more analytical and perceptive. While his expression was blank, it was obvious he was reading Karasuma.

The last was much more interested in the company he held in his arms. His hands wandered rather freely all over the other and his nose was buried in his neck, whispering and smiling. As he traced his nose upwards, grazing his lips across the blue haired mans jawline he opened his eyes and took notice that they were no longer alone.

Unlike the others, he stood out in a frightening way. His smile seemed devious and showed sharp canines as it pulled to show his teeth. The suit he wore was expensive, but more casually worn, as it lacked a tie and the first couple buttons were left open. His red hair was striking against his pale skin and light eyes. Inside of those eyes flickered something horrific and unrelenting. It was the sight of bloodlust so strong it could be triggered at any moment and no doubt send this man into a frenzy. They were designed by nature to make people second guess a confrontation with him.

"Please," he said graciously, flickering the monster in his eyes, "have a seat."

Slowly, he sat down on the single chair that was set out for him.

The pair of lovers slowly pulled themselves apart, but still sat close to each other, keeping their hands to themselves for now.

"We haven't met before, but I certainly know a lot of things about you. I have to say I'm rather impressed with your work as of late and tracking you down proved to be difficult," he explained. Just then, from the side door, a young blonde man came out and handed the lady in the room a small bowl of chopped green onions, which she passed to the redhead.

He presented it to his cherished companion and it was hard not to notice the change in himself as he spoke. He was suddenly gentle and soft spoken. "As requested my dear. Now, we may eat."

The others didn't hesitate to begin reaching across the table gather noodles, meats and whatever else they wanted in their bowls. Seeing everyone grab from every plate showed the guest that everything was safe to eat and there was no ill intent here.

Still, Karasuma wasn't prepared to share in the niceties just yet. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with you, my host."

That devious smile crept up again, "No I suppose you're not. I'm Karma. I'm the head of our family. This charming fellow at the end is Itona. The lovely young lady who seems quite fond of you," he sneered sarcastically, as she was still glaring rather hatefully in his direction, "is Nakamura. I believe you met outside. The handsy man that felt you over, is Chiba. Here," he said snaking his hand around his lovers waist, "is Nagisa."

"Why have you called me here," Karasuma asked. "You went through a lot of trouble it sounds like and to send a large sum of money ahead of time is rather unusual."

Karma swirled his noodles around in his bowl lazily, "I'm interested in your expertise. Your name seems to come a lot when people talk about assassinating. After some digging I found out about your prior employment with the government and I was convinced you would make a valuable ally."

"I don't have any government information that would be of use to you."

"Oh please," Karma replied with a laugh. "I don't care about government workings. We deal outside the reach of the law."

Nagisa finished his bite and gently laid down his chopsticks, "We were hoping you would be interested in a contract. Work for us exclusively to help protect our assets and territory."

Karasuma wasn't one to get involved with anyone in particular long term, but it was known that he'd take any job for the money, leaving no one to truly trust that he wouldn't turn on them. A few were even out to find him in hopes of prying information from him.

"In return," Nagisa continued, "we can offer you protection from anyone seeking to put your head on a spike as well as a more than reasonable salary."

"Why are you interested in employing an assassin for this job?"

Itona answered, with a low, flat voice, "Everything we do for now must be done in secret, including our battles. Assassins know how to fight in the shadows. People capable of chop jobs, drive-bys and other shoddy methods are easy to find. We prefer to keep things simple in some cases."

Some cases. Like any other 'family' of crime, they had their share of breaking knees and gun downs. The promise of protection was rather tempting, but the young age that they all displayed was a little unsettling. Still, it was the first time anyone offered him such a job and those who were a part of the family, were protected. The bond came before law, religion and morality. Besides, why not collect a salary for the just the occasional job here and there.

"I'll do it."

Nagisa actually smiled at him. "I'm glad you decided to join us."

"Then it's settled," Karma rejoiced. "Welcome to our 'll head back to the office after this and discuss details."

It was then that Nakamura received a message. She read it intently then pushed her bowl away, "The shipment is inbound."

"They're early," Itona hissed.

"Dock inspection took the bribe. Saves them a couple hours when no ones walking the ship hull to hull," she explained as she stood up and smoothed her knee-length pencil skirt. "They're about to begin unloading, as soon as a crane is available."

Karma took one last bite and forfeited his chopsticks, "Change of plans. Karasuma, you ride with me. Itona, contact our buyer and inform them of the update and begin arranging the hand off. Take Nakamura and Yada to assist. The rest will come with me to the dock to receive the shipment. We'll call Okuda on the way."

Everything moved quickly after that. Together the walked down the hallway but once they were outside they split off into their groups, each one climbing into an oversized SUV. The interior was all black, with two cushioned rows other than the front seat. Karma and Nagisa took a seat furthest in the back while Chiba and Nakamura sat in the first row.

A young bubbly driver turned her head. "Where to Boss," she inquired in a delightful tone. Her orange hair was as bright as her personality.

"The dock please, Kurahashi."

She saluted from the front seat with a smile on her face, "Yes, sir!"

As they pulled away and headed down the street, they crossed over into the city. It was then Nagisa took notice of another set of headlights behind them. He knew that Itona and the others were heading in a different direction and couldn't help but feel uneasy.

They rode in silence for a few moments while Karma clicked away on his phone. "Alright, Okuda will meet us there to test the goods. If science says it's good, this should all go smoothly."

"You don't just try them," Karasuma asked. It was usually the norm for someone to literally test the product before distribution.

"I like having my wits about me and a coke head thinks all drugs are good drugs so they're only good for making sure it's not baking powder. I have someone that can test quality without anyone snorting up. Family rule, no one snorts coke."

It was then Karma noticed Nagisa turned around once again, looking out the back window. He reached out, touching his finger to his cheek and tracing a small line downward. "What's wrong, Nagisa?"

With a small sigh, Nagisa look at him, "That cars been behind us for a while. I have feeling they may be following us."

From behind them there was a small thud. A bullet impacted with the ballistic glass, leaving a white smudge in it's place. Karma smiled, "I have feeling you're right."

Chiba was already unbuckling his belt, ready to remedy the problem. He crouched onto the floorboard and lifted the cushion from his half of the seat revealing a small MAC-10 with loaded magazines.

"You're seats loaded too Karasuma," Karma chimed. Another shot bounced off the glass. "You're hired and I believe you've already been paid for today."

Following orders, he unbuckled his belt and lifted his seat. "A Glock?"

"It goes full auto," Karma assured. "Silencers please, people are trying to sleep. Chiba you too."

With the guns loaded they cracked the side windows and fired at the vehicle behind them. Chiba managed to put a few rounds into the hood of the car, but it wasn't enough to stop them. He pulled back, taking refuge in the car from shots headed in his direction. It was difficult for them because to fire they'd almost have to hang out of the window, making them easy targets. It was best to fire a few rounds and pull back inside, watching as bullet after bullet painted snowflakes all over the back window, particularly in Karma's direction, not that he seemed to care too much.

The driver amazingly seemed rather unfazed by the chain of events. With a cheerful tone she warned the passengers, "Brace for impact!"

A second car had pulled out into the street, stopping itself across the road to block the way. Two men hung out the window trying to shoot out the tires. Chiba grabbed onto the assist bar attached to the door, but Karasuma wasn't fast enough. Kurahashi took a slight right and impacted the rear of the vehicle, bending the back axle and sending it sideways where it collided with the side of the SUV causing a terrible grinding of metal. Karasuma flew forward, the passenger seat in front kept him from flying into the windshield. His gun slid from his hand and landed in the front seat floorboard.

He crawled between the seats, reaching down by Kurahashi's legs trying to find his pistol. The sound of peppered gunfire was in the background.

The young lady looked down for a moment, "It's nice to meet you."

Karasuma raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, you too."

Finally, he found his firearm and put himself back in the fight.

In the back Karma smiled, keeping a protective arm around Nagisa and continued to evaluate the situation. He wanted to join in, but in case of the unimaginable, the whole family would be sent into turmoil. This was something his beloved got onto him about quite often.

"Kurahashi," Nagisa yelled, "I'm uploading an alternate route for now, follow the GPS. We can't lead them to the dock."

"Yes, sir!"

The SUV turned onto an open highway that headed towards the shoreline. On a weekday night, there were little to no cars to be found.

Chiba fired a few more rounds and managed to flatten the front tire on the drivers side, sending it into a spin out on the highway. The moment they thought it was over, a third vehicle, also an SUV drove up from an on-ramp came up from behind and pulled beside them rather quickly.

Nagisa turned to look out the side window and a bullet collided with the ballistic glass, leaving a white blotch that aligned almost perfectly with his forehead.

That was the tipping point. Karma's half smile disappeared and everyone could see that monster rise in his eyes. Rage began flickering to life.

"Hold your fire," he said decisively. "This one's mine."

"Karma," Nagisa pleaded quietly. "Look at me, let them finish this."

Everyone jerked to one side as the other car rammed them, trying to push them off the freeway.

There would be no negotiating. Karma freed himself of his seat belt and was reaching behind the seat and pulled out a gun with a large round barrel.

"What the hell is that," Karasuma demanded.

Chiba frowned, knowing exactly what that was. He rolled up the window, buckled himself back in and wrapped both hands around the assist bar, tucking his head.

Karma laid his finger on a button and slowly the sunroof pulled open. Nagisa gave up on convincing and put his hands over his head.

"Kurahashi, I want you to sideswipe them on my mark."

"Yes, sir!"

Karasuma buckled himself in and grabbed the bar. The only one unfastened was Karma. He threw his leg over the back of the seat in front of him, planting it between the two gunners, loaded what looked like a large black cylinder and grabbed the sunroof for support.

"Now."

On cue, the driver pulled to the left, pushing the other car violently away from them. In the moment it took for the pursuers to scramble inside the car Karma emerged from the sunroof, took less than a moment to aim and fired the weapon with a large almost hollow sounding pop and planted the black round in the car. The other driver began to correct the SUV and tried to turn back towards them.

Then, it exploded.

Fire shot from every window, reaching far enough to lick the sides of their own car. Karasuma watched in horror as the flames rolled against the glass and the SUV took a portion of the force and veered to the side. The car tilted and everyone held their breathe, save for Kurahashi, who for the first time showed fear as she screamed.

Thankfully, it wasn't enough. The car slammed back down and after a nervous jerk or two of the steering wheel, the driver had control of the car.

"Are you fucking nuts," Karasuma yelled.

Karma sat back down quietly and buckled himself in.

"That should be the last one. Take us to the docks."

As everyone quietly tried to gather their thoughts, Nagisa could feel a familiar hand in his hair. He looked up to see Karma's eyes. Slowly, the fire was pulling back and his smile was returning. The threat was over and they were safe.

That was more than enough for the two of them.


	2. The Family Imports

This chapter contains _implied_ sexual content. It is not descriptive or graphic in any sense.

* * *

As they pulled up to the shipyard, the car slowed to a stop. It was hard not to notice that no one had said a word the rest of the way there. After the initial relief and the all the adrenaline had dissipated Nagisa was actually a little bit upset and Karma could tell.

From the window you could see dimly lit driveways that lead to several docking stations. A fairly large boat was settled close by. It had a long deck with several shipping containers on it filled with merchandise. The logos on them varied. It had seen a lot of sea miles, as the red paint was mostly rusted and chipping off in some areas. They pulled up alongside the other SUV that had taken a different course.

Kurahashi opened her door first, "Rio!"

Rio Nakamura's voice could be heard in the vehicle, "What the hell happened?"

"We were followed, but everyone's OK," she replied as she climbed out. "You won't believe what happened-." Kurahashi's voice was cut off as she closed the car door. Chiba unbuckled himself and started to get out, meeting up with Itona. Karasuma turned to see if the other two were going following suit.

Neither one of them had moved an inch. Karma had his arm around Nagisa, the other however had his arms crossed and sat quietly. "Give us a minute," Karma asked softly.

Without a word, Karasuma left and closed the door behind him. He walked around the car and met up with Yada, introducing himself to her.

"You can't put yourself out there like that Karma," Nagisa scolded. "You were in plain view if there'd been another car-"

"There wasn't another car. That car met up with us late in the chase. Plan A and B had failed, that's when the third car comes in. It's not very likely they have more than three cars because if a chase goes on too long, the cops show up."

Nagisa shook his head, "Karma you can't always assume that. You are the only one that can lead this group. We chose you and we have to protect you but you have to let us do it. Whether you like it or not, as the leader you are the most valuable asset."

The red head reached out and gently placed his hand on Nagisa's cheek, turning his head so that they would face each other. "Not to me. To me, you are the most valuable asset."

Nagisa sighed, looking into his eyes. He didn't know what to say.

"Look," Karma continued, "you're allowed to be mad if that's what you want." He withdrew his hand and started to unbuckle his seat belt. "But do not ever act surprised when I retaliate against anyone that tries to hurt you. That shot wasn't a stray bullet. It was aimed and it was true. That shot was supposed to assassinate you. If anything happened to you I would burn this country from shore to shore in every direction… You know that."

He knew that. Nagisa also knew better than to try and say otherwise to Karma. The Boss had his own way of doing things and although his consiglier was allowed to argue, there was always a limit to what he could do. This wasn't something anyone would change his mind about.

Karma was very sensitive to the way his beloved felt. Times like this, when he was upset, he had no problems giving him his space. When Nagisa forgave him, they would be close again. Now, it was time for business.

After climbing out of the vehicle he joined the rest.

"Lovers spat," Nakamura teased.

"If you weren't so nosy maybe you'd have yourself a boyfriend too," he snapped back sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh please."

"Alright," Karma announced as he headed for a large gate that blocked access to the dock, "Our merchandise will be found inside a container labeled for 'Terasaka Custom Parts'. All we want are the drugs, so be considerate to the auto parts, our friend will still have to sell and install them."

It was then Nagisa included himself into the group, standing next to Yada. Karma unlocked the gate and pushed it open allowing them inside. Kurahashi stayed and headed back towards the vehicles.

The sound of the water slapping against the docked ship was soothing to Karma. With the moon above them and a cool sea breeze, it was almost a perfect night.

A ramp was already laid out for them to board the ship.

An older gentleman in grungy overalls approached Karma and shook his hand. He then lead them to a large faded blue shipping container. The doors opened to reveal that the container was partially filled with boxes. He flipped a switch to turn on a light inside.

Karma went in and pulled a box off the top of the stack. Meanwhile, Nakamura slipped the captain a few bills and he took his leave, allowing everyone else to do what they were there to do.

Inside the box was a set of decorative rims for car tires. Itona pulled one out and inspected it the best he could in overhead lights. He found a small separation along the inner rim and pulled out his pocket knife. Gently he forced the tip into the tiny gap and a small section came off. Inside was a small package of white powder. He went around the inside of the rim and took off four more sections to reveal more bags. They were each about three quarters of a pound. (.34kg)

"That's tedious," Karasuma commented.

"Those ones, yes," Yada smiled. "But there's a lot more hiding."

Chiba and Nagisa had walked into the container and found a long box about 36 inches long. (92cm) Inside was a spoiler. It looked like it belonged on the back of a race car. Chiba felt around it until he found a switch. Then, a hatch opened, running the length of the spoiler and inside were four larger bags of cocaine. As he pulled then out he remarked on their combined weight, "This is all about 20 pounds." (9kg)

It took a little while, but after 5 more boxes and stashes of drugs found in mufflers, car doors and even taped to a hood that for some reason had a panther painted on it, they were done. They closed up the boxes and put them back in. Everything was as they found it. Kurahashi caught up with them on the boat and handed out shoulder bags.

"Ok," Nakamura directed, "We have just over 220 pounds (99 kg) here. We'll divide it up and carry it to the car. Once Okuda tests it, we lock it away and Itona will take it to the buyer."

Chiba, Karma, Nagisa, Itona and Karasuma each shouldered a bag and they all began to talk down the ramp towards the car after closing up the shipping container.

Karasuma was walking next to Chiba and couldn't help but say something. "Why's the boss doing any of this grunt work anyway?"

Chiba, who had said almost nothing in the entire time Karamusa had known him, finally spoke. His voice was surprisingly casual. "We all do this work. Normally Isogai is here since he's the drug Capo, but he had to be elsewhere so Nakamura is taking his place. Family rule says, 'We share the weight and the wealth.'"

From behind Yada was compelled to speak up as well, "Most crime groups have a hierarchy system that leaves this work to just the soldiers. Doing that, you lose touch with the job and those who do it. That's how soldiers like us turn into numbers and human shields. We'd become disposable and that's not how we do things in The Family."

It was beginning to make sense now why they just called themselves The Family. That's what it was. A true family doesn't consider the others any lesser than themselves. They played their roles because they're what's needed.

They arrived back at the vehicles and found that a sensible white four door had parked alongside them. A petite young lady with glasses and two long dark haired braids had a small set up on the back of her car and was waiting for them to return. Unlike most of the others, she was dressed very casual, wearing a bright orange colored summer dress with a lab coat over it.

Karma threw out his arms, inviting her in for a hug. "Okuda you made it!"

She smiled and put her arms around Karma. "It's been a while. I was wondering if you guys had quite the game."

"Never! We had a little territory fight, then had to switch methods. It took a while to setup our new arrangement for import that's all."

Soon all five bags were laid at her feet and one by one she took out a small bag and tossed a little bit of the drugs from a random package into each beaker. From her own bag she put on gloves and produced a bottle, the contents of which she poured into each one.

As Karma was watching, waiting for some sort of reaction, Nagisa walked over to stand beside him. Without a word spoken or even glances exchanged, the boss slid his arm around him. He'd been quickly forgiven and they were once again inseparable.

It was then that one by one the liquid turned pale purple. Most of them just a little darker than the other.

"Well," Okuda explained, "It's all pretty good but you got one that's a little paler than the rest. It's not necessarily bad quality, it just has more impurities. Speak to them about washing the equipment between batches and you won't get such a build up."

Nakamura inspected the pale liquid more closely. "I'll inform Isogai, but I think they've had this conversation before. We obviously didn't make ourselves clear… It'll come out of their pockets. Let's pack it up and just do the drop off."

As Okuda put away her things and poured all the beakers into a metal canister labeled 'Biohazard', the others opened the back of the still pristine SUV. Under the floorboard was large black safe door. Inside they laid the bags as flat as they could and closed it again.

Karma asked Karasuma and Chiba go along with Rio and the others. He and Nagisa were going to call it a night.

Kurahashi drove them home, slighty worried that the beat up car with bullet holes would attract attention or perhaps not even make it. The other two sat side by side and on the way they drove underneath the overpass that lead to the shipyard. Red and blue flashing lights could been seen as they passed by. Someone had called in the charred wreckage the boss left behind.

The sight made Nagisa a little uneasy, but it was something he had to accept as part of the job. There was no way to do these things without spilling blood. Although The Family was not offensive, they were certainly defensive of each other and their territory.

They waved goodnight to Kurahashi and used a passcard to get themselves into the building. For security, it was locked after 9pm each night. It was one of the tallest buildings in the city. All 20 stories were built in a large cylinder shape. Any floor above the 10th was restricted to the public. The lower floors were full of suites that were rented out to high class clientele that wanted a place less than an hour from the water. The others were home to people that had the money and wanted absolute privacy, like the two of them.

Hand in hand they walked through the main floor until they reached the door for an elevator that ran up the outside of the building. They were granted access and stepped inside. Through the glass they could see the city grow smaller beneath their feet. As they reached the 18th floor, the doors opened the way for a very small foyer. All it was were two walls and two doors. One to the elevator and one that required a password to their home.

The place lit up as they walked in. Through the wall of windows in the living room you could see the shoreline in the distance that collided with the twinkling lights of the city at night. It was beautiful. For Nagisa, the unobstructed view of the ocean shore was the best part. He spent the first few days after they moved in, sitting in an overstuffed recliner, watching the world below. They were too high up to see any goings on in the street, but the ocean and the city as a whole were more than enough on their own to look at.

Tonight, after he removed his shoes at the door, Nagisa headed over and sat himself down in the big soft chair. He reclined it back and rolled onto his side, facing the windows and staring at the lights.

A moment later Karma slid in behind him, draping his arm over Nagisa's waist and resting his cheek gently against his soft blue hair. "I'll assume, since you didn't want me to kill him at the docks, you trust Karasuma?"

Nagisa blinked, thinking about it, "At first I wasn't sure. He didn't really seem to harbor any ill intent. As the night went on, I think he grew a little bit fond of us. He isn't used to working with others so it may prove difficult later on. I think you knew somehow that he wanted out of the game. Is that why you asked for him?"

The redhead smiled, "I've been keeping track of a few assassins lately. He seemed to gravitate towards the same employers. He likes familiarity. His skills are good now that he's had some practice. He was one of many up and comers in the assassination world now that Chaos has disappeared."

Nagisa took Karma's hand into his own and held it tightly.

"You still don't like when I bring him up," Karma asked.

"He's gone. Let's leave it at that."

He nuzzled Nagisa's hair, "Alright… Thank you."

"For what?"

"Forgiving me and my recklessness today, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a nice adrenaline rush."

Nagisa sat upright and sighed, "Let's go to bed. We have meeting in the morning."

Before he could stand up, Karma's arms snaked around him. "Not so fast," he purred, "I wanted to have a little fun before we said goodnight."

He could feel Karma's lips on the back of his neck and a chill ran up his spine. "Don't you want to take this somewhere else?"

"No," he growled playfully. "I'm tired of waiting." He pulled Nagisa down on top of him, colliding their lips together.

Behind them, the window went ignored. Even in plain sight, no one could see them. They were too far up above the rest, in a world all their own.

The next morning Karma rolled out of bed, literally, onto the floor and groaned.

"You knew we had a meeting this morning," Nagisa chimed as he walked through the bedroom already showered and dressed, "Now hurry up or we'll be late."

Twenty minutes later, Karma emerged from the bedroom a different person. He was clean and dressed in a neatly pressed shirt, pants and jacket, ready for anything. Nagisa was the only one to date to ever see him first thing in the morning when he was grouchy and disoriented.

His entrance was just in time, as his phone vibrated with a message Kurahashi sent saying that she was outside waiting for them.

They drove downtown to a small business building tucked away on a cul de sac street behind a hospital. That, was where they ran their 'business'. The sign outside read 'Marumatsu Restaurant Supply, Inc'. The road was only accessible from one street and the surrounding buildings were all just rented spaces to the hospitals doctors for office visits. Inside the first floor looked a lot like a business. There was a small waiting area and a greeting desk.

Kurahashi took her seat at that desk when they arrived. Besides driving, her job was to run the shell company that was Marumatsu. She'd answer the phone if anyone ever tried to check the number or call to inquire about restaurant supplies. Eventually she'd give them the run around and direct them towards an actual supplier. The name itself was just a means to launder money through.

The other two headed up to a small conference room on the second floor. As they opened the door, the realized they were in fact the last to arrive.

Two young ladies were waiting on one side of a long glass table. One had long black hair and a shy smile. The other was rather sour, her light colored hair pulled up in a ponytail. Like Yada and Nakamura last night, they wore pencil skirts and jackets.

"Kanzaki, Kataoka so nice to see you," Nagisa greeted. "We apologize for keeping you waiting."

"That's quite alright," Kanzaki replied. "We're not particularly looking forward to this meeting," she admitted.

They both knew right away something was wrong.

Kataoka cut in, not wanting to waste any time, "We had far to little foot traffic last night," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "Less than 50 bets were placed with six of our bookies. As you can imagine, we made very little."

The boss furrowed his brow, "Yes that does in fact seem to be a problem…"

"However," Kanzaki interjected, "I was able to contact a few of the regulars from one of my collectors and they told us someone else was luring others away to a new establishment. They offered to not only pay your share if you won, but that they would double it for your first win."

"An incentive for switching bookies," Nagisa assumed. "They'll probably do it for one or two people, just to get the word around, then stop altogether."

"Gamblings addicts don't know better than to fall for a lousy scheme like that," Kataoka spat.

Karma drummed his fingers on the table, "Easy Megu, we make our money off those addicts… Did you by chance get a name?"

"Yes," Kanzaki whispered. "Teppei Araki. He seemed to have no quarrels with giving it out."

The Boss slammed his fist down on the table, rattle Kanzaki's coffee mug.

Nagisa pursed his lips, "He works for Asano."

"Yes he does, Nagisa," Karma growled. "Seems they want to pick another fight with us."

"You don't think that was them last night, do you?"

Karma shook his head, "I can't imagine they would be dumb enough to pull that stunt and give out their names. Not unless they think they're untouchable. Something we've disproved in the past."

"So what are we going to do about it," Kataoka asked.

Karma's lips pulled into a smile and he looked out the window, thinking. "That's a good question. What are we going to do?"


	3. Making Family Money

Note: In the past to help with reading I've converted measurements as reference. Since this chapter deals a lot with money and takes place in Japan (I am horribly unfamiliar with the Yen amount for these sorts of dealings and how they translate to other forms of money) I did my best to be general with just numbers. I simply refer to it as paper money (bills, bundles, cash, etc) without using terms like dollar, euro or yen. Feel free to take the simple number amounts and apply them appropriately to your countries method of money. If I've slipped up out of habit and overlooked it in proof-reading just let me know! (As with any other mistakes it's hard to proof-read your own things!)

Sorry for the slow update, I've been sick! LOL Two weeks and I haven't completely kicked it yet.

* * *

The view from the top floor of the Asano Law Firm was an enviable one. It was only three stories up, but in a residential area it was the largest building there and it sat up on a hill, allowing for an unobstructed view of the ocean line less than half a mile away. The sea glistened in the afternoon sun as waves rolled up against the beach.

Gakuho Asano, the leader of the firm, as well as the Asano mafia group, wasn't at all impressed with the beautiful sight. He looked it over from his desk where he was sitting pretty in his tailored brown suit. His short brown hair highlighted his eyes, which stared critically at the open view. It was acceptable, but like everything else in his life, he just wanted more. Unfortunately, not everyone liked the way he thought. Particularly, his son, who stood rigid in front of his desk.

"You're greed will get the best of you old man," Gakushu Asano spat. He was a young man with reddish blonde hair and the same piercing eyes his father had.

While his son went simply by Asano, his father insisted that everyone refer to him as Asano Senior (Sr), if only to remind his hard headed son that he was the leader and his superior.

The words had no effect on Asano Sr. He simply smiled and indulged his son for conversation, "You give them too much credit. That group has no place in this city now that it's run by a bunch of reckless young adults. It's sad to see them struggle so much to keep going after the absolute mess their parents made of it."

Asano glared harder at his father. It was a gaze that went unnoticed. Sadly, he was accustomed to his father brushing off all warnings or voices of reason. Unlike other mafia groups, he had no Consiglier because he truly believe whatever he thought was best went without question. No one would tell him otherwise. He needed no right-hand man.

"You've managed to turn a blind eye, but they're doing things differently and it's working. Don't underestimate them," Asano warned.

Casually, Asano Sr. reclined in his chair, swiveling around to look out the windowed wall behind him, and put his back to his son, "The idea of sharing power the way they do is only interesting to you because manipulative people like us would see it as a chance to take things over. The system we have, the system all other groups have, works because it keeps people in their place. Soldiers will fight and do whatever dirty work they need with the hopes of being promoted and no longer dispensable. They don't have time to shoot for the top. They'll never be so bold," he said smugly.

His son saw that there was truly no point in trying to talk sense to him. Instead, he decided to take his leave, but not without trying to have the last word. "Watch your back father. You won't run this company forever and I'd like there to be something left when you're forced into retirement… Or someone comes up with enough money to have you killed."

"Now you're giving everyone too much credit," Asano Sr. mused. "This is why you'll never inherit my position. You are too afraid to understand that risk is what leads to rewards. There are no unwritten rules of mutual respect in this world. Everyone wants the top and you only keep it when you're the first to strike."

Asano clenched his fists and headed for the door. As he gripped the doorknob he took one last jab, "You were never this confident when Chaos kept you in line."

That was it, the button his son knew to push to get a rise out of his father. By the time Asano Sr. had turned around in his chair, ready to strike back, his son was shutting the door, leaving him to stew.

* * *

Karma was slumped over his desk, spaced out, while his hand traveled absentmindedly up and down Nagisa's thigh. Golden eyes were glued to the door, but he wasn't paying any attention to it. His lover was sitting next to him, on the desk, wondering what ideas he could possibly be tossing around in his head. Suddenly, Nagisa had a strange feeling that prickled the hairs on his back.

"Karma?"

The boss broke free from his trance and looked at him. "Yes?"

Nagisa swallowed reluctantly, "You're doing it again."

He leaned back in his chair, keeping his hand on his beloved. "It's hard not to do. Thinking about that lowlife Asano group is enough to make anyone develop a desire for murder."

At his worst, Karma had little control over his impulses, but it hardly ever got that far. Nagisa could pick up on every little change he portrayed whether it was the way he stared, smile, the way he spoke or just the change in his aura. His bloodlust slipped out all the time. It was partly his job to help him maintain it. For good reason, the bluenette had grown to resent the familiar feeling of violence.

"We can't just kill them to get things done," Nagisa stated firmly. "Those people have no faces to him. He would just send more. There has to be a way to run them out without killing the ones following orders. All we're loosing is money and it's not worth their lives."

With a heavy sigh, Karma wrapped his arm around his boyfriend and slid him a short distance across the desk until he was right in front of him. He then rested his head in Nagisa's lap, feeling his violent urges subside as he took in the familiar scent. Once again, his voice of reason made him changed the way he was thinking. It was a good point. Asano Sr. didn't care about his men. He cared about himself. Himself and something else…

Just as Nagisa had begun to play with his soft red hair, Karma stood up from his seat. In his eyes, it was obvious that something was coming together. Little by little he was quickly putting one piece into another. As he rounded out his plan, he smiled. Finally their eyes met.

The bluenette looked him over skeptically, "What? What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna see a bookie about a bet," he teased as he grabbed his phone and left the room.

Nagisa stayed on the desk for a moment wondering if he should follow. Did he want part in whatever scheme Karma would have going? It certainly wouldn't be the first time he sat out. However, like most times, it was far too intriguing not to know. He hopped off the desk and decided to go along as well.

* * *

A few hours and several phone calls later, the meeting room was once again occupied. Itona, Kanzaki, Kataoka, Kurahashi, Nakamura, Yada, Chiba, and Isogai were all standing in small groups about the room talking casually. The boss looked over the room, noticing that two people were missing. Within a minute, Karasuma and a stoic young lady with reddish-brown hair came in, rounding out the count. She immediately made her way over to Chiba, opening up to a small smile as they greeted each other.

"For anyone that has not met Karasuma," Nagisa explained, "he was just recently recruited. Take a chance at some point to introduce yourself. Now, if you'd all please have a seat."

Karma took his seat at the head of the table while Nagisa simply stood next to him. "As some of you know," Karma began, nodding towards Kanzaki and Megu Kataoka, "we seem to be having a problem with our gambling crowd. Without even bothering to hide their identity we know that the Asano group has taken root in the area and is taking a considerable amount of business from us. On a night that we'd usually take in over forty-five thousand dollars, we made less than ten thousand." He then held his hand out towards Megu, allowing her to take over.

She stood up and projected her voice is a very professional manner, "We've been looking into the situation and have managed to locate what we believe is all four of their setups. Right now they're just working out of ground level rental space, most likely because these were a rushed idea. Kanzaki has been in touch with a few trusted regulars to get an idea of the setup inside."

Kanzaki smiled politely, "So far it just seems as if they've simply built a dividing wall in the space and installed some glass. It's much like a bank set up. You speak through the glass and money is passed through a small cut out. What's interesting is that they rented spaces that are surrounded by other businesses. This probably ensures we won't simply set the building on fire, but it also means they're protected on all sides. One door in and out."

Several pairs of eyes were on Karma, trying to see if he was worried about the obstacles. Robbing the place stood very little chance of success. Unlike other groups there was no desire to put others in danger to torch the place. None of the new information seemed to bother the boss at all.

"That, coupled with the heavy security that accompanies the bookie themselves," Kanzaki continued, "we have quite a few things to consider. Tomorrow night is the MMA Championships. As we know, we stand to make as much as three hundred thousand if we repeat last years success." She looked over at Karma. "Knowing all this, do you have an idea, Karma?"

Smiling deviously, he lifted a briefcase onto the table. "Tomorrow night, Karasuma, Yada, Hayami," he said, acknowledging the previously stoic young lady that came in with Karasuma, "and Kanzaki will be visiting these bookies."

He unlatched the suitcase and opened it, hearing the hushed murmurs take over the room. Inside were eight neat bundles of money. Pulling two of them out he handed them to Yada, who was the nearest to him. "You're going to go in and place a bet of ten thousand each."

The uncertainty in the room began to grow as bundles were handed out.

"Be careful when handling these stacks," Nagisa warned, "There's more than just money in there."

Yada set down her bundles gently, leery that they just may explode. "So… are we going to blow up the place after all?"

"Not at all," Karma assured them. "These are just going to render their precious money utterly useless."

* * *

The next night, just after dark, Hayami, in a bright red wig, pair of worn jeans and a yellow flowery top shoved her way into the packed office space. On all sides were a mass of impatient people trying to be the next in line to place their betting money through the tiny cut out slot.

The bookie was a tall older woman with her graying black hair pulled back into a tight bun. On either side was a bulky and obviously armed guard. She took the money, counted loose bills, marked the bundles, and took the details of the bet and sent them on their way with a small ticket stub containing their assigned number. Once the fight was over, the winners bring in their tickets and claim their money.

She elbowed her way through, getting rough when she had to until finally she pushed away and older business man and made it to the window. Because of the cameras, she kept her glasses on, pushing the false hair out of her face. "Hey, first wins doubled right?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

"Yes," the woman answered flatly.

"Good, I need a win" she joked, trying to sound desperate to put down some money. She pulled the two bundles out of her waistband and slipped them through the window. "I need ten thousand on Juarez to win by a knockout."

Hayami watched anxiously as the bookie, unfazed by the high amount, took the bundles and flipped through one side, making sure they were all loose bills. Then, she wrote Hayamis' number on them. "Stacks get counted during the game. If you're off you forfeit all the money."

"It's there," she asserted, glad that she didn't undo the bundle. The little extra in there would not pass hand counting. Once Hayami had her ticket she pulled back from the window but remained in view, following the instructions laid out by the boss.

"Wait until you see the stacks get taken into the back," Karma instructed.

After a few more bets, the bookie took a few moments to clear some money from her cash drawer into a bag, including the bundles, and handed it to a guard who took it off to the side, putting it where they wanted it. The safe.

Once she saw the bag returned empty to the bookie, she quickly made her way out the door. Once she rounded the corner, a small black car pulled up beside her. Inside was a young woman her age with striking green hair. "Hey Kayano," Hayami greeted. Together they circled the block and parked across the street, keeping an eye on the place and sending a message to the others that the money was put away.

Back in the office space, the bookie continued to collect money, handing out tickets one after the other, passing the time quickly as the deadline loomed. The fight would be starting within minutes and once it did, no more bets would be taken. The majority of the betters had done their business and left. With only about a dozen people left in the room, she was forced to stop. The fight had started.

Ignoring the frustrated rants of unhappy addicts as they walked out the door, she grabbed the bag from before and began to empty the drawer of money into it to put in the back.

From behind, they heard a strange metal knock. She looked at the guards. They looked back at the safe and shrugged. Her gut told her something was wrong. Sounds didn't just happen. The woman dropped her bag and headed for the safe. After putting in the combination she ripped open the door and gasped.

"Call Asano," she gasped.

Across town, Asano Sr. watched the fight from his plush sofa on a large mounted television. The phone next to him rang. Recognizing the number he answered smugly, "Don't tell me you've counted already-"

Next to him, his son rolled his eyes. Looking back at his dad, he saw the most horrific expression come across his face. That call wasn't a good one. The sheer anger light up his ears, turning them bright red. He responded to the caller in a low, terrifying tone, "What the fuck does that mean?!"

Without waiting for an answer he hung up and stormed out of the house slamming the door on his way out.

Inside the car, Hayami and Kayano were watching the site for some sort of sign, taking turns pulling chips out of a bag.

Kayano looked over at her friend, "So are like, you and Chiba a thing?"

Before she could get a response, the squealing of tires came around the corner. A sleek looking white BMW came to a grinding halt in front of the bookies. The door opened and Asano Sr. and his escort guard came out, walking into the building.

"Oh shit," Hayami whispered. She sent a message as quickly as she could to Karma, letting him know.

" **Good** ," he sent back. " **That means Itonas' trigger system worked.** "

It wasn't long before the shouting echoed. Even in their car, across the street, the horrific noise was heard. "Asano's loosing his shit in there," Kayano giggled.

Suddenly, a chair broke through the makeshift wall, landing in the lobby area, littering the floor with little pieces of glass and drywall. "You're not kidding, Kayano."

They ducked down in their seats as Asano Sr. came out and barreled his way to the car. Without hesitating, it sped off.

"Ok," Hayami whispered, "now for the fun part."

She took off her wig and glasses and slipped quietly out of the car. Quickly, she crossed the street and crept along the shadow of the building until she was just shy of the door. She looked across the street to get her cue from Kayano. Then, she could see her giving a thumbs up and rolling down the back window.

The door opened and she tensed, hearing the voice of a guard and the shuffle of a trash bag.

"I'm not getting in trouble for this," he growled. "I didn't touch any of this-"

His voice was cut off as Hayami's foot impacted with his face. Taking advantage of the moment, she grabbed the bag, hearing Kayano peel out from their parking space. As the car pulled up she dove through the open window, pushing the bag in first. A moment later, as the guard took aim to fire his gun, the car disappeared around the corner.

When they were out of sight, she opened the bag. It was only about a quarter of the way full. Inside were bundles and loose bills of cold hard cash. An assortment of denominations, all defaced with blotchy red dye. She picked up a few bills and turned them over in her hands, watching her finger tips turn red just from touching them. "Sucks we had to ruin a whole safe full of money."

"What do you think they were going to do with it," asked Kayano.

She shrugged, "Try to save it, probably burn it. Red dye is normally used to thwart robberies. Soon as you leave the place, boom. Everyone knows you stole that money. You can't do anything with it. The stuff doesn't come out. It's a crime to have it, no bank will deposit it so you can't even launder it with good money. Two-bit drug dealers won't even take because they can't so much as buy a burger with it. The only people that can get this money replaced, are banks, when they're robbed. All this cash is officially lost to the face of the planet."

Inside, she found her stacks. The center of which had been burned by the small explosion. A hole about a inch (2.5 cm) wide had been hollowed out, replaced by a dye pack. Who knew it packed such a punch. On busy nights, she took bets for Kanzaki and when everyone was elbowing in, she too marked stacks for counting later. Maybe it was a norm that needed to go away. Then again, the kind of people that placed bets, couldn't afford to just blow up their money even if they would most likely lose it anyway.

"I wonder why we have to bring it back then."

"Beats me," Hayami sighed, tossing the bills back into the bag and closing it. "If it didn't have value to Karma, he wouldn't want it."

* * *

Back at the office, Kayano pulled into the back parking garage. She could see that two other teams consisting of Yada with Kurahashi, and Kanzaki with Chiba had already returned.

Karma, Nagisa, Itona, Nakamura as well as the two other teams were creating a set up. Large plastic storage containers were being laid out on five folding tables with one chair on either side. A washer and dryer had been moved in and set up against the wall.

"Welcome back ladies," Karma greeted. "Another nice big bag I see. Good, put it with the others. Okuda will be here soon."

Soon after, the last car pulled in. Okuda, Megu and Karasuma got out.

Karma and Karasuma walked around to the back of the car and pulled large jugs of clear liquid out from the trunk and brought them to the tables.

"Thanks for coming again Okuda," Nagisa said.

"Oh sure," she replied. "I can't wait to see if this works!"

Megu scowled as she tossed a small deposit bag on top of the larger trash bags. "That's all we got," she explained. "Apparently they left it in the bag and just put the whole thing in the safe. Some leaked out and they put that in there but the majority ended up unscathed."

Nagisa looked inside and saw a small stack of money absolutely saturated in red dye. He poked around, leaving red steaks on his fingers. "That's alright," he reassured. "The other three were hit hard, it's more than enough to get our point across. Whatever he has in the safe will barely cover the payouts and pay the bookies."

"If they even get paid," she mused.

Karma lifted his hand in air, drawing everyone's attention. "Thank you, all of you for pulling this off. On a busy night like tonight, it was obvious no one was going to go through the bills one by one but you really stuck your necks out to bring the money back. Kudos! Now, we are all about to get ourselves a little science lesson. Okuda?"

She was pouring the liquid into one of the containers when Karma made her the center of attention. Nervously, she put it down and pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket. "If I could see a bag please?"

Megu handed her the small deposit bag off the top of the stack. "Ok, so everyone knows about the red dye and what it does to money, right? Well, actual dye packs render the money no good. It's designed to stain permanently, which it does very well. There's no getting any sort of stain off of money."

Okuda pulled out a red almost unrecognizable bill. "This however, is my dye." As she went on, she got more relaxed and even excited. No one loved science like she did. "This actually isn't dye. It's colored red to give that impression, but this is ink. Specifically, ink containing Sodium Hydroxide."

Hayami looked at her fingers, seeing them stained red. Nagisa did the same.

"Don't worry ," Okuda said, "it's no more than you'd find in cleaning detergents and diluted with the colors and other things, it won't hurt. Just wash your hands soon. Now here in the containers, is thymolphthalein. This can hurt, so wear gloves. When you mix them together as acid and base…" She dipped the bill into the liquid and everyone crowded around to see the reaction. As the bill soaked up solution the red ink, turned to blue.

"It just turns blue," Nakamura commented flatly.

"These two together make up the chemical reaction that is- invisible ink."

Suddenly, everyone finally understood why Karma wanted the money back so badly.

"And when invisible ink hits the air," Okuda beamed, pulling the bill from the liquid. As the excess liquid ran off, the air settled on the money. Slowly, the blue got lighter and lighter, until it was gone. All that was left, was a regular, seemingly untouched bill. "It's impossible to remove ink from money without damaging the print, so we just make it invisible…."

Excitement erupted. The plan worked flawlessly. Everyone was realizing that all the money in those bags, was theirs. They had taken no bets, so nothing was to be paid out. Every single bill belonged to them, that wasn't hallowed out or burnt. Kurahashi patted Okuda on the back, congratulating her science once again. People were touching the bill and crowding around.

"The only thing that triggers the ink is ultraviolet light. To remove excess we just need to rinse cycle and then dry the bills in the dryer so they don't feel so saturated. Don't use soap," Okuda instructed.

"Holy shit," Karasuma said, amazed as he took a turn checking out the bill. "Who the hell pulls this kind of stunt?"

Nagisa looked up at the boss, a proud smile on his face. Karma smiled back as he tossed a fist full of gloves onto the table, keeping two for himself. "Alright, let's get to it!"

One by one everyone grabbed gloves, still chatting in anticipation. Nagisa smiled, seeing everyone so happy was something he reveled in. They were a makeshift Family and Karma kept them together. He was the one that always came through.

He turned around, watching as Karma took off his jacket and his shirt, laying them on the back of a chair to keep them away from the chemicals. He opened a jug, dumping it out into the container. As he replaced the cap, he caught Nagisa staring at him and smiled back.

The bluenette walked over to stand by him. He just stared for a moment in awe. "How did you come up with this?"

Karma wrapped his arms around Nagisa and pulled him close, burying his nose in silky blue hair. "It wasn't my first plan. I wanted something very different." He lifted his hand, resting it under Nagisa's chin. "You reminded me that 'No one in the Family dies for money.' It was the one rule that you made."

Nagisa pursed his lips, remember why they even needed that rule in the first place.

"Asano likes his money," Karma continued. "That's what he cares about, just like you said. I wanted him to see it destroyed. I also wanted to take it for us. Why not do both? Even if he kept it, they'd never get that stuff off. He'd still lose. It was always just a matter of whether we'd get a bonus out of it."

It was interesting to hear it explained just like that. He made it sound so easy. A complex plan, so many variables and necessities manged to go off without fail. Somehow he always just knew things would work out. That's just the way Karma was. He leaned down and planted a small kiss on Nagisa's cheek, silently thanking him for once again, pulling him back.

Several hours later, the last load of bills were in the dryer. It was almost 5 a.m. and several people had made themselves cozy in the back seats of the cars to get a little sleep and curb the exhaustion. One of them was Nagisa. The tables had been cleared of chemicals and whoever wasn't asleep was stacking and counting money, careful to look out for any bills that wouldn't pass. From where Karma sat, he could see a tuft of blue hair shift around in the back seat of the car, door open to keep from getting too warm inside.

Next to him Kanzaki hummed lightly as she counted and bundled the bills.

"Kanzaki."

She stopped humming and looked at the redhead. "Yes?"

"Lay low for a while. Tell your bookies not to take bets from anyone that's not a regular and don't stay in one place too long."

Pursing her lips, she nodded slowly. "You know, I'm a bit worried too. I know we don't take kindly to killing people, but others do. They'll most likely pull out of the area, especially when word gets around that they got pinched, but they probably won't leave quietly."

"Don't worry," Nakamura cut in as she set down the last basket of hot, freshly dried bills, "No one here thinks they're invincible. We had the chance to walk away before in favor of safe low risk jobs, but we stayed. We can take whatever's thrown at us."

That little bit was enough to recharge Karma, he replaced his concerned demeanor with a more sinister one.

"She's right. Let them come…"

* * *

A couple short hours later, the sun was coming up, casting a bright glow against the pool water.

Asano Sr had been sitting in a lawn chair next to the pool all night. Doing nothing but staring into it as the water rippled and swayed.

After receiving a phone call from his concerned mother, Asano had come over again that morning to check on his father. Seeing him sitting there in yesterdays clothes, staring at the water was enough to make anyone assume that he'd finally snapped.

He walked up to his dad and got just a little too cocky, "You've finally lost your mind. I told you they'd get the best of you-"

Out of nowhere, Asano Sr. had thrown his fist, striking his son in the cheekbone and sending him over into the pool. For the first time since yesterday, he was standing up.

Gakushuu resurfaced a moment later, choking and spitting out bloody water. "The fuck is wrong with you," he yelled angrily.

As he climbed out, he once again resented his father. "You fucking did this to yourself. I told you!"

His sons continued his tirade in the background but not a word reached him. All he could hear was a high pitched tone as his eyes settled for watching streaks of blood dance in the water, changing their shape. Suddenly, in his delirium, he saw the reflection of someone in the pool. Two someones. Always together. Never one without the other. Like night and day. Fire and ice. Streaks of red against the light playful blue.

Like the Boss and his right hand.

He tilted his head, as his unblinking eyes focused in on the false reflection of Nagisa.


End file.
